Invention: Higher-performance plastic recycling
What started as a simple sketch led Austrian inventors and business men Klaus Feichtinger
and Manfred Hackl to reshape plastic recycling. Their patented Counter Current
technology means that a wider variety of plastic waste can now be turned into
pellets, ready for industrial reuse and indistinguishable from new plastics.
Plastic recycling is complex and time consuming. Separating plastic from
other waste can be a slow process and each type of plastic requires a specific
method for reclaiming usable material. Feichtinger and Hackl have developed new
technology capable of efficiently sorting and separating plastics, meaning less
waste and more new plastics available for production. Their recycling machines,
which can be as big as buses, move, sort and filter plastic matter, delivering
a high-quality pellet at the end that will be used to create new products.
A key innovation has been Feichtinger and
Hackl's Counter Current technology. Waste material enters an extruder and is
rotated in the opposing direction to the flow of the extruder screw - in the
same way as you would collect water from a stream, by putting a cup against the
movement of the water. Thanks to this process, more waste material can be
processed at faster rates than previously possible and at lower temperatures. This
technology, based on an idea first quickly sketched out by Feichtinger, is a
crucial part of the inventors' recycling machines and is protected by several
European patents.
The global plastic recycling market was worth almost
EUR 32 billion in 2017 and is projected to grow around 6.5% per year to reach
nearly EUR 50 billion by 2024. This expansion is due to increasing awareness of
the environmental impact of plastics, as well as government regulations that
encourage their re-use. The EU's plastics strategy for example requires that
all plastic packaging on the EU market will be recyclable by 2030, aiming to
drastically reduce the need for virgin plastics. These developments are driving
beverage makers and other businesses to invest in efficient recycling
technologies like Feichtinger and Hackl's.Originally from Linz,
Austria, Feichtinger and Hackl have spent nearly all their professional careers
at EREMA, which they joined in 1993 and 1995 respectively. The Ansfelden based
company was founded in 1983 and is today a today a world leader with plastic
recycling machines in 108 countries. Feichtinger and Hackl are passionate about
helping businesses apply technologies that contribute to the circular economy.
Their objective is to make plastic recycling as simple and widespread as
recycling paper or glass in the future, in this way changing profoundly how we
use and reuse this ubiquitous material.
